


• <L*-5 





R 


GENERAL CHARLES K. GRAHAM, 


ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF OF THE 


DEPARTMENT OF DOCKS, 


FOR THt; 




YEAR TERMINATING APRIL 30, 1876, \ 

O 

O' 



TOGETHER WITH 


ADDENDA 



NEW YORK: 

M A R T I N 13. 13 R OWN, PRINTER AND S T A T I O N E R , 

Nos. 201, 203. & 205 William Street. 

i8 75* 
























* 






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ft 











REPORT 



OF 

GENERAL CHARLES 

ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF OF THE 

DEPARTMENT OF DOCKS, 



FOR THE 


YEAR TERMINATING APRIL 30, 1875, 


TOGETHER WITH 

ADDENDA 


PREPARED SUBSEQUENT TO HIS RESIGNATION OF THAT POSITION. 



NEW YORK: 

MARTIN B. BROWN, PRINTER AND STATIONER, 


Nos. 201, 203, & 205 William Street. 

i8 75- 











































(o - IS US 





New York, June i, 1875. 

Eugene T. Lynch, Esq., 

Secretary of the Board of Docks : 

Sir—I have the honor to submit for the consideration of 
the Board of Commissioners governing this Department the 
following report of the several works under my supervision 
during the year ending April 30, 1875. 

Before giving an account of the work performed on the 
different sections during the year, it has seemed advisable, 
in order that the Commissioners may have before them the 
means of arriving at a proper understanding of what has been 
accomplished, that each separate work should be described 
from its inception. 

New Pier No. i, North River/ 

This pier, which starts from the bulkhead wall at the Bat¬ 
tery, at a distance of about 82 feet north of the north point 
of tangency of the curve of the wall, was designed by my 
predecessor, General McClellan, to be 500 feet in length by 
80 feet in width, giving, consequently, an area of 40,000 
square feet. Its design is that of a series of semicircular 
arches, the first springing from the bulkhead wall, faced on 
the sides with cut granite, and formed inside with concrete. 
These arches rest on beton blocks, which are supported by 
masses of concrete contained in wooden cribs, resting on the 
bed rock. 


4 


The work of laying the foundations of sub-piers Nos. I, 
2, and 3 was begun in the early part of the autumn of 1872, 
and these and the superstructure of three arches were com¬ 
pleted prior to my appointment in July, 1873. 

The nature of the bottom for the first sub-pier, and the 
short distance at which it was constructed from the rip-rap 
foundation forming the base of the bulkhead wall, rendered 
the use of a crib, such as employed for the foundations 
of the other sub-piers, impossible. The following method 
was, therefore, adopted : 

The dock silt was first dredged as close to the above-men¬ 
tioned rip-rap foundation as was deemed safe, but, with all 
the precautions taken, it was with extreme difficulty that 
enough could be excavated to give a proper bearing to the 
necessary sub-foundation. Broken stone was then placed on 
the site, and this was pounded down with an iron rammer 
fastened to the end of an oaken pile, worked in the ways of 
a pile-driver. A wall of dimension stone was then built up, 
in a series of headers and stretchers, at a fixed distance from 
the line of bulkhead, and at a depth of about thirty feet from 
mean low water. Inside of this wall more dimension stone 
was placed, irregularly, and the interstices filled up with 
broken stones. Concrete blocks were then placed, holding 
iron stanchions, so constructed that guide-planks were low¬ 
ered and fixed in them, movable at will to a given level 
below mean low water, and fastened in place by iron pins. 
The dimension stone wall was then closed at either end, 
broken stone placed, where necessary, and a trough or 
basin formed for the reception of the concrete in mass form¬ 
ing the base upon which the beton blocks, which carried the 
sub-pier up to the springer blocks, firmly rested. 

The concrete was mixed on scows and lowered into the 
trough by means of a sloop rigged with a derrick-boom in 
the usual manner. It was dumped by divers, and, when 
brought up to the required “ formation level,” was smoothly 
leveled by means of a heavy iron “ straight-edge,” resting on 
the guide planks. In this manner a hard and even bed was 


5 

prepared to receive the beton blocks to be described here¬ 
after. 

In preparing the second sub-foundation, a crib was used 
of 84 feet in length by about 13 feet outside width, firmly 
braced and bolted together, and weighted with rip-rap stone 
placed in bins on the sides, spuds for regulating the lowering 
of material running through iron brackets on either side at 
regular intervals. The 100-ton derrick held this structure 
while it was being weighted, and then placed it in position 
on the bottom. In this crib a canvas bag was firmly fas¬ 
tened to the bottom, and this, when lowered, formed a basin 
for the reception of the mass concrete, which was then 
deposited, built up, and leveled in a similar manner to that 
•employed in Sub-pier No. 1. The third and all subsequent 
foundations were made by means of a similar crib, the 
width varying somewhat, but instead of canvas bags, 
secured to the bottom, planking was used, whenever neces¬ 
sary, and fastened in place by divers. The use of long 
spuds was likewise discarded. Upon the foundations pre¬ 
pared in the manner thus described, base blocks of concrete 
made in moulds and weighing about 26 tons each, were 
lowered into position by the large derrick, and, when the 
alignment was perfected, pier-blocks, varying in height 
according to circumstances, were placed upon the base- 
blocks, these pier-blocks being so made as to allow a 
“ berme” of 18 inches on either side. 

On these pier-blocks the “springers” were placed, 
granite on the outside and concrete within ; centres were set, 
and the necessary arching and spandrel-walls proceeded with. 
The hearting and deck of the pier, throughout, have been 
formed of pounded concrete, with occasional rip-rap in the 
hearting. 

This system of construction has been generally adhered 
to, since my incumbency in office, and arches Nos. 5, 6, 7, 

8, 9, and 10 have been completed. I had contemplated the 
idea of employing a wall of “ pierre perdue ” in place of # 
cribs, having used it successfully in the construction of 84 
feet of wall to the northward of this pier, after my appoint- 


6 


ment, my intention being to carry this stone wall along the 
whole extent of the pier and to weight it with three times^the 
amount which it was intended to carry in any probable use. 

To keep it weighted for a period of three or four months, 
then to remove the weighting and to fill the interstices with 
smaller stones ; upon this laying six inches of concrete, and 
on that placing the base and pier-blocks for the several' 
arches. I am satisfied that this method, giving, as it would 1 
have done, a uniform foundation level, would have been 
more economical and quite as successful as the present sys¬ 
tem, but, after having made a commencement, I desisted for 
reasons which it is not necessary to mention, and followed 
the plan above stated, as inaugurated by General McClellan. 

It is but just to say that the plans for this work were pre¬ 
pared by Mr. Isaac Newton, engineer in charge, who super¬ 
vised its construction until a brief period before my appoint¬ 
ment, General McClellan having the most unlimited confi¬ 
dence in his integrity and ability. Mr. Newton also 
designed and supervised the construction of the large der¬ 
rick, which was employed so successfully in laying the beton 
blocks at the Battery, and at the Christopher street section. 


The Christopher Street Section. 

When the Board of Commissioners, by a resolution 
adopted September 26, 1873, ordered a section of the river- 
wall to be commenced at Christopher street, that part of the 
water front extending from Barrow street to Perry street was 
occupied by four piers and the old Hoboken Ferry platform, 
having an aggregate area of 77,460 square feet, and yielding: 
to the city a revenue of $22,775 per annum. Piers Nos. 51,. 
52, and 53, originally built in the old style of blocks and 
bridges many years since, had been widened and extended 
as the demand for wharfage facilities in that part of the town 
1 increased, without any system or plan, except that of satis¬ 
fying the call of some steamboat or barge owner for accom¬ 
modation. 


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7 


Four hundred and nine feet of the bulkhead, from Pier 
No. 51, north, were occupied by oyster scows, around which 
the filth of the sewers had accumulated until, at low water, 
the bottom, near the bulkhead, was exposed, and, at a dis¬ 
tance of 160 feet from the bulkhead, there was a depth of 
water varying from only 4 to 6 feet. 

On the 30th of September, 1873, dredging was com¬ 
menced between Piers Nos. 51 and 52, to make a trench 
averaging 80 feet in width, having a mean depth of 20 
feet below low water, and continued north and south until it 
reached a length of 1,300 feet. This work was carried on in 
close proximity to vessels coming in or going out, discharg¬ 
ing and taking in freight, and to which the right of way was 
always given, adding much to the cost of the work. The 
amount of dredging done on the section, to April 30, 1875, 
was, in the slips, 29,450 cubic yards ; for the bulkhead, 
45,615 cubic yards; making a total of 75,065 cubic 
yards. 

To give the public the use of the piers beyond the estab¬ 
lished bulkhead line, a temporary bridge was built, 30x254 
feet, from the foot of Christopher street, along the north side 
of the ferry slip to the south L on Pier No. 51 (October 14 
to November 6, 1873), and another (November n to Decem¬ 
ber 4, I873), from the north L of Pier No. 51 to Pier No. 52, 
50 feet wide by 138 feet long. 

As soon as the connections were completed, giving a 
roadway to Piers Nos. 51 and 52, these piers were cut away 
in the line of the wall. 

To provide for the accommodation of the oyster scows 
between Piers Nos. 51 and 52, on the 28th of October the 
work of tearing up old Pier No. 53 was commenced, and was 
continued until a sufficient depth of water was obtained near 
the bulkhead to float the scows, and, on the 27th of Novem¬ 
ber, they were moved into their present quarters. 

In front of Pier No. 53 there was then lying, in the mud, 
the wreck of an old dry dock, with a sunken canal boat on 
what had once been the ways. This dock, after passing 
chains under the bottom, was lifted from its bed with the 


8 


large steam derrick, and carried away and beached at Fifty- 
seventh street, North river. 

Shortly after commencing the dredging for the river-wall 
foundation, orders were received to begin the construction of 
new Piers Nos. 44, 45, and 46, and work was commenced on 
them December 11, 1873, as follows: On Pier No. 44, at a 
point about 75 feet west of the bulkhead line ; December 
16, on Pier No. 45, at a point 80 feet from the bulkhead 
line, a connection having been built north from old Pier No. 
52, 30 by 100 feet; on the 27th of December, Pier No. 46, 
at a point about 86 feet west of the bulkhead line. 

On the 31st of March, 1874, the work of building the new 
ferry platform was begun, at a point 25 feet west of the bulk¬ 
head line ; and the driving of piles for new Pier No. 43 was 
commenced on the 22d of April following. When the con¬ 
struction of these new works was decided upon, old Piers 
Nos. 51 and 52 were taken away, in portions, from time to 
time, as they interfered with the progress of the work, until 
thfe latter part of March, when they were entirely removed. 
By the 30th of April the new piers had advanced towards 
completion, as follows: Pier No. 43, ; the Hoboken 

Ferry platform, ^ ; Piers Nos. 44 and 45, about % ; and 
Pier No. 46, 

The work of driving piles for the foundation of the river 
wall was begun January 2, 1874, at a point five feet north of 
the north side of new Pier No. 44, and by the 30th of April 
there had been driven 2,603 piles. February 18, began cut¬ 
ting off these piles, at 14.21 feet below mean low water, and 
by the 30th of April there had been cut off 1,826. 

March 25, commenced putting down 4-inch stone 
between the piles cut off, and by April 30 there had been 
put down 804 cubic yards. On the 13th of April the con¬ 
creting between the pileheads was begun, and by April 30 
this work had extended over an area of 27^ by 140 feet. 
By the same date there had been placed, in front and rear 
of the wall, 600 cubic yards of rip-rap stone. 

Thus, on the 30th of April, 1874, work was being prose¬ 
cuted with vigor on the river wall, on the ferry platform, and 


9 


on four new piers, 241 men appearing 1 on the Department 
pay-rolls at the Christopher street section. The assistant 
superintendents and foremen were all capable men who, 
having great interest in their work, took advantage of all 
means in their power to carry out my plans. 

The bulkhead wall at this section, 23 feet 10 inches in 
height, is built on a foundation of piles, cut off 14 feet 2^ 
inches below mean low water, filled around the heads with 
broken stone and concrete, thus making a solid level plat¬ 
form, on which were placed two courses of beton blocks, each 
6 feet high. On the top of these blocks rests a facing of 
granite masonry, backed with mass concrete, for a height of 
9 feet 4 inches, or up to the coping, which, for the present, 
has been simply backed with earth filling, the coping, with a 
rise of 2 feet 6 inches, having been left out in the wake of 
the piers. The lower 12 feet of the wall has a batter of 2^ 
inches to the foot, and the granite facing a batter of one inch 
to the foot. 

When the mud had been dredged out, in the line of the 
wall, to a depth of 20 feet below low water, piles, vary ; 
ing in length from 50 to 76 feet, with the character of the 
bottom, were driven until they gave an absolute refusal or 
would not go down more than I y to 2 inches, with 15 feet 
fall of a 1,700 pound hammer. The bottom changes from 
the foot of Christopher street, with gravel and sand at a 
depth of 44 feet below low water, the gravel and sand gen¬ 
erally sinking towards the foot of West Eleventh street, 
where only a moderately tenacious clay was found at a depth 
of 100 feet. The piles were spaced 2 y feet between centres, 
north and south and across the wall, except three piles in 
the row near the toe of the wall, which were placed two feet 
apart between centres. The wall being 17 y feet wide at 
the base, the pile foundation extends beyond \t 7 y feet in 
front and 2 l / 2 feet in rear, making the foundation 27y 2 feet 
wide. 

These piles were cut off by a circular saw attached to a 
sliding frame in the ways of a pile-driver, at a distance of 14 
feet 2 t \ inches below mean low water, and, between their 


IO 


heads, stones of about 4 inches cube were thrown from the 
deck of a scow, for a depth of from 2 to 6 feet and up to 
within 1 or 2 feet of the formation level. This foundation 
stone did not have the uniform depth of 6 feet, because such 
a mass of liquid mud had flowed from all directions into the 
trench, during the time intervening between the driving and 
the cutting off of the piles. 

On the stone thus arranged, and for the purpose of bind¬ 
ing the piles together, concrete waf placed, made in the pro¬ 
portions, one part cement, two parts sand, and three parts 
broken stone, for a depth of from I to 2 feet. This 
concrete was put down by the aid of divers, at first through 
a tremie 12 inches square inside, made of 2-inch pine 
planks, a mode which, although expeditious, was soon aban¬ 
doned on account of the washing of the cement, and was 
replaced by the ordinary triangular bucket, lowered by a 
hand-winch from the deck of a scow. 

On the foundation thus prepared, beton blocks, manufac¬ 
tured at the Gansevoort street yard, were lowered by the 
hundred-ton derrick, and placed accurately in position with 
the aid of divers. These blocks are in two courses, each 
course consisting of two lines of blocks, front and back, of 
the following dimensions : 


DIMENSIONS. CONTENTS. WEIGHT. 

1st Course—Front.11' 6 ' and 10' 4 y z " x 10' x 6' 24.3 c. y’ds. 45.5 tons 

2d “ “ . 7' \y 2 " and 6 3' xio'x6' 15.13 “ 28.3 “ 

1st & 2d Course—Back.. 6'xio'x6' 13.3 “ 24. “ 


The wall having been in this manner brought up to 
within 2 feet 2 T ^- inches of mean low water, the first 
course of granite, with an average rise of 2 feet 1 inch, was 
laid. At the same time, at the back of the blocks and 
within two feet of the edge, was placed a mould-board, of 2- 
inch spruce, to retain the concrete backing. This mould- 
board was made with a foot and temporarily secured in posi¬ 
tion by weighting. 

Between the first course of granite and the mould-board 
mass concrete was lowered in triangular tubs, in the propor- 




tions of one part cement, two parts sand, and four parts 
broken stone, until the top of the granite was reached, when 
the second course of granite was laid and backed in the 
same manner. The latter being above water at some stages 
of the tide, the concrete was made with a larger proportion 
of stone (i, 2, and 5), and packed down with rammers. 

When the top of the third course of granite was reached, 
bringing the wall up 5 feet 10 inches from the beton blocks, 
the mould-boards were set in towards the face of the wall 
two feet, thus reducing the thickness at the top of the course 
next the coping to 7 feet 4 inches. 

At this point the coping was laid between the piers, in 
pieces 8 feet long, with a rise of 2 feet 6 inches, and a width 
of 4 feet, and in the wake of the piers a rubble wall, 3 feet 
3 inches wide by 18 inches high was built, to protect the 
timber of the piers from contact with the earth filling. 

To prevent any lateral movement of the wall as the work 
of laying the beton blocks advanced, rip-rap stone was 
thrown in the front and rear over a width of 25 or 30 feet, 
until it came up to within an average distance of 10 feet 
from low water in front of the. wall, and up to the formation 
level in the rear. This rip-rap has an average depth of 6.7 
feet. 

In the rear of the wall seven rows of piles were driven, 4 
feet between centres, to serve as supports for railways and 
platforms for the reception of filling, if brought in large quan¬ 
tities, and for the support of platforms if the filling should be 
delivered in carts, the main object, however, being to relieve 
the wall from the severe lateral pressure it would experience 
when the large amount of filling, rendered necessary by the 
excessive depth and extreme tenuity of the silt, should be 
put in, the intention being to dump on both sides of the 
platform, the exterior filling to bring a gradually increasing 
pressure against the wall ; and the filling inwards, which 
was designed to be in the ratio of 2 to 1, to force the mud 
towards the old bulkhead line, so that it might be gradually 
surrounded and its power overcome. These piles formed 
nuclei, around which the earth collected, at an angle of 


12 


about 75 0 , thus increasing the ordinary angle of slope, 
which may be taken as about 25°, so that the lateral pres¬ 
sure against the wall was immensely diminished. 

The work done on the Christopher street section during 
the year ending April 30, 1875, was as follows : 


Dredging for the river wall, cubic yards. 3 °» 95 ° 

“ slips and oyster basin, cubic yards... 104,022 

Total, cubic yards. 134,972 

Piles driven on 694 feet on foundation. 3*625 

“ in the rear of the wall. 1,186 

Piles cut off at the formation level. 4*349 

length of formation concreted, feet. 975 

Beton blocks laid, May 5 to December 23. 43^ 

438 Beton blocks contained, cubic yards. 7,234.6 

Length of wall laid at the base blocks, feet. 1,115 

“ granite facing, 9 feet 4 inches high, feet. 1,080 

“ “ coping, feet. 524.5 

Quantity of granite (reported by Assistant Engineer Maclay), cubic 

feet. 3°*47 6 -5 

Rip-rap stone in front and rear of wall, cubic yards.*. 10,005 

Four-inch stone on the foundation, cubic yards. 1,791 

Concrete stone in foundation and wall, cubic yards. 3*947 

Sand for concrete and mortar, cubic yards. 1,920 

Cement, concrete, and mortar, barrels. 6,312 


New Pier No. 43 was entirely constructed, with the ex¬ 
ception of 81 piles driven before May 1, 1874. 

The Hoboken Ferry platform—area 27,166 square feet, 
was finished, three-fourths of it having been constructed 
before May I, 1874. 

New Piers Nos. 44 and 45 were completed and connected 
with the wall. 

Of new Pier No. 46, the outer and inner ends were built 
and the inner end connected with the wall. 

New Pier No. 47, 50x215 feet, was built, 75 feet of the 
outer end being supported by 36 columns. 

A platform, having an area of 27,210 square feet, and 475 
feet long, on the eastern side, was constructed to connect 
new Piers Nos. 46 and 47 with West street. 

The following temporary structures were built, to connect 
the new piers with the street: A bridge, 40x170 feet, to Pier 




















i3 


No. 45 ; a bridge, 40 feet wide, from the north side of the 
ferry platform ; a bridge from the south side of the ferry 
platform. These temporary structures were all subsequently 
torn up, in addition to tearing up the L on the north and 
south sides of old Pier No. 51, the old ferry platform at the 
foot of Christopher street, and the pier at the foot of Barrow 
street. 

Three box sewers were built—from the foot of West 
Tenth street to the wall; from the foot of Christopher street 
to the wall; and one from Barrow street 150 feet south along 
the old bulkhead. 

Deliveries of filling began on the 2d of July, 1874, and 
80,093 cartloads were received. Between January ir and 
February 22, 1875, 104 scowloads of garbage and ashes were 
received from the Police Department, containing 26,780 
cubic yards. The filling now reaches from old Pier No. 52 
to about 70 feet south of new Pier No. 43 - The money 
received for dump tickets at this section amounted to 
$1,080.50. 

When the wall was being constructed in front of the 
ferry platform, in the fall of 1874, it frequently happened 
that a low tide would not occur during the daylight. In 
order to take advantage of each tide, and sometimes to finish 
a course of masonry, with backing up of concrete to get 
ready for the next day’s work, the wall was illuminated by 
two calcium lights placed 40 or 50 feet apart, within a few 
feet of the work. On the first occasion that this plan was 
tried, the result was so satisfactory that the day was after¬ 
wards often .lengthened until past midnight, and some¬ 
times the workmen were enabled to commence at three or 
four o’clock in the morning, and this at a cost of about three 
dollars per hour, a trifling expense compared with the cost 
of the work accomplished by this mode of illumination. 

The wall having been finished up to the coping, between 
new Piers Nos. 44 and 45 , there remained, in front of and 
about 30 feet from it, the old block forming the north L 
of old Pier No. 51. The top of this block had been removed 
and put inside the wall by hand banows, and Diedge No. j 


was brought in to complete the work, when one of the Com¬ 
missioners (* * * # ), thinking that the operation of placing 
the stone dredged from the block on the deck of a scow, 
to be afterwards thrown off by hand, too slow, ordered the 
Superintendent of Floating Property to bring the dredge 
alongside the wall, so as to throw the material over and let it 
fall on the inside. In obedience to orders, this was done, 
and thus, at each stroke of the dipper, a mass of mud and 
stone weighing from 3 to 4 tons was taken from the front 
of the wall, carried over and let fall on the inside, through a 
distance of 12 to 15 feet. This immense battering-ram had 
made about fifty blows, when the wall yielded and was 
broken, about the middle of the stretch between new Piers 
Nos. 44 and 45. The strength of the wall was shown by 
the fact that it was not curved, but preserved a straight line 
from the point of rupture to each end. At the break, it was 
moved out of line 1.9 inches. When the damage was done, 
the beam of mass concrete 240 feet long being broken, the 
foundation piles had lost much of their power of resisting 
lateral pressure by being inclined, and complete restoration 
became impossible. To prevent any further displacement, 
several hundred cubic yards of rip-rap were thrown in front 
of the wall, forming an embankment, within 8 feet of low 
water, 20 feet wide at the top, the inner edge of the em¬ 
bankment being 10 feet outside of the bulkhead line. 

The power of resistance in the wall itself being gone, 
and the rip-rap not acting immediately, a further movement 
took place* until the deflection reached 3 inches, when I 
ordered the building of a crib, inside, to be attached to 
the wall with rods and chains and to be filled with stones 
and sunk. As rip-rap had been put down inside the wall 
over a width of 25 feet and to a depth of 6 or 8 feet, in 
accordance with the original plan, and as, through this rip¬ 
rap, retaining piles had been driven, 4 feet between centres, 
it was expected that this crib would settle away towards the 
street, an expectation fully borne out by the subsequent 
experiment. 

Seven holes were drilled, at low water, over a length of 44 


15 


feet 5 inches, in the concrete backing of the wall. In each 
hole, two staples of 2-inch round iron, 2 feet long, with arms 
6 inches long, at right angles, were inserted and cemented. 
To these staples were secured the eyes of 2-inch rods, which 
ran back to i J^-inch and i^-inch chains, which in turn were 
secured to the timbers of the crib when the weighting of the 
latter commenced. The crib, 28x40 feet, was placed 58 feet 
away from the wall, where the original soft mud of the slip 
remained. When the crib was partly filled, the strain was 
so great as to open some of the hooks in the 2-inch rods. 
Some condemned ry^-inch steel wire rope being at hand, the 
broken rods were replaced by four parts of this rope, used 
in the manner of a Spanish wineglass, and, when the attach¬ 
ments were again complete, the weighting of the crib went 
on until 297 cubic yards of stone had been placed in it. 
This strain cm the back of the wall operated to such an 
extent that the deflection was . reduced to 2^ inches. At 
this time the filling had reached the water. To relieve the 
wall still further from the pressure of the filling yet to be 
put in, a quantity of brushwood, reaching from the wall 
through the retaining piles, over a space 30 by 75 feet, was 
spread to a depth of several feet, with a highly satisfactory 
result. 

It has been my endeavor to introduce into the construc¬ 
tion of all piers built by the Department, better design, 
materials and workmanship, than have hitherto prevailed in 
such structures in our harbor, although this idea was not 
carried out to such an extent as I desired. At the Christo¬ 
pher street section it was done by building a portion of each 
pier on columns, 20 by 20 inches square, made up of four 
pieces of 10 by 10 inch-timber, securely bolted and tree- 
nailed together ; by close planking the bays on the outer 
ends ; by the use of 1 ]/ 2 -inch and 2-inch diagonal brace-rods ; 
and by armature plates of i^-inch iron, from low water to 
the side cap fitted to the columns, to protect them from the 
cutting action of ice. These piers have been also greatly 
strengthened and much improved in appearance by the use 
01 8 by 12-inch oak fenders. 


i6 


An attempt at the preservation of the timber was made 
by painting it with “dead oil,” and I believe a wise economy 
would be shown by creosoting in future all the timber in 
piers, above the water line, a process which would certainly 
increase their life twenty or thirty years. 


Canal Street Section. 


This section was commenced on the 4th ot May, 1874, 
by driving piles for new Pier 34, the present Pacific Mail 
Steamship pier. It spring^ from the bulkhead wall, almost 
in a direct westerly line from the small pier formerly known 
as 42^, a portion of which is now utilized as ,a shore con¬ 
nection for the occupants of new Pier 34, and what remains 
of old Pier 42. 

The dimensions of this pier are 583 feet in length by 90 
feet in breadth, giving an available area of 52,470 square 
feet, or nearly an acre and a quarter of space. 

Work was prosecuted with vigor, and by the 1st of Sep¬ 
tember, 1874, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company were in 
occupation, and paying a large rental to the Department. 

######## 

To accommodate commerce two connections were made 
to old Pier 42, viz., for “ Pacific Mail Company,” and for the 
“ Fort Lee Ferry Company,” the latter being cut off from 
all access to West street by means of a portion of old Pier 
42^ having been cut through to permit the building of 
the stone bulkhead wall. The north half of old Pier 42 
was for a distance of 306 feet torn away, and the stone 
blocking removed and made of use by being transported to 
the Christopher street section, and deposited behind the 
bulkhead wall at that point. By this change in old Pier 42 
the slip to the south of new Pier 34 is materially widened, 
giving accommodation to the several occupants of the slips 









E7wct£iA?ii of Caisson,. 


Section^ of Caossojo, 
Ca/toct Si>. *sV, f£. 


Note.—I n preparing these sketches for the Engraver the Draughtsman has omitted to show rip-rap ou cither side 
of the wall, as well as stay piles in the rear, all of which have been placed in this method of construction. 


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i7 


to the rear of the bulkhead wall, who were of necessity cut 
off from the street during the progress of the construction of 
the wall. 

**###### 

The bulkhead wall on this section, iio feet of which has 
been finished, foundation up to stone facing for a distance of 
So feet built, and pile work for 60 feet more ready for con¬ 
creting, is a subject on which I will have to dwell at some 
length, as the method of constructing it differs materially 
from that used at the Battery and Christopher street sections. 
At the latter works the system was—to drive piles, cut them 
off at a fixed distance from mean low water, and upon them 
to place prepared beton blocks by means of ioo-ton derrick 
and divers. 

On this section, as well as the King street* section, the 
piles are punched down, and loose concrete laid en masse 
in a false work of timber, which is subsequently removed. I 
will more particularly describe the operations hereafter. 

In Great Britain, and in the continental countries of 
Europe, where the dicta of science are as unhesitatingly 
received as the truths of Scripture, it would be considered 
ludicrous for an engineer to give his reasons in extenso 
for the adoption of any particular system of construction ; 
but in this liberal country, where the people are sovereign, 
and every newspaper reader is transformed into a remorseless 
critic, it is unsafe to originate any plan without giving un¬ 
answerable reasons therefor, particularly when the plan must 
necessarily extend over a period of many years, and involve 
in its completion an outlay of from $25,000,000 to 
$50,000,000. 

This must be my excuse for the collation of the following 
excerpts, which are familiar to every well read engineer. 
That eminent authority, Mr. Thomas Stevenson, in his work 
on the “ Design and Construction of Harbors,” at page 201, 
says : “Sir John Hawkshaw has passed concrete through 50 
feet of water with perfect success. As far as his experience 
went, the concrete set quite as well under these circum¬ 
stances, as when it was deposited in the open air. He has 


2 


i8 


done this both in salt and fresh water. In passing concrete 
through water, he used a box containing almost 2 cubic 
yards ; when it reached bottom, a bolt was withdrawn, and 
the concrete dropped out.” 

The same authority, on page 202 of the same work, 
also says : “ Mr. W. Parkes put in the foundation of the 
iron light-house in the Red Sea by means of a caisson, into 
which the fluid concrete in bags was deposited.” He thus 
describes the method of construction : “ During this time 
some progress was made at the light-house works. The 
caisson of iron-plates to inclose the concrete base had been 
deposited upon the reef, where it was exposed to a wash 
sufficient to remove some of its clayey particles, without 
carrying it opt of reach. As soon as a sufficient quantity of 
gravel was accumulated, the process of depositing the con¬ 
crete was commenced. As circumstances did not admit of 
the usual plan of depositing the concrete in the water in large 
masses from boxes, the following plan was substituted: 
Sheets of tarred canvas were prepared of such sizes as 
would fill up the spaces between the piles, and allow 2 
feet round each side, to be turned up, so as to form large 
shallow bags. The edges of the tarpaulin were then lashed 
to the wooden rods, which were slung to the piles, so as to 
allow the tarpaulin bag to float slackly on the surface of the 
water. Two or three hours below low water the work was 
commenced. The concrete was mixed in the lighters moored 
alongside the caisson—6 measures of gravel being used with 
one measure of cement, and a suitable quantity of water. 
The materials were thrown into the centre of the canvas bag, 
which gradually sunk to the bottom (generally-from I to 2 
feet under water), and the bag was spread out evenly over 
the whole area as it became filled. This was continued until 
the tide rose nearly to the level of the top of the deposited 
concrete, when the sides of the tarpaulin were drawn close 
over the soft mass, and lashed tight. In this way blocks of 
from 6 to 14 tons were deposited without the material having 
been subjected, in small quantities, to the action of the 
water. The blocks were generally hard enough on the fol- 


*9 


lowing day to allow of the exposed parts of the tarpaulin 
being cut away; and so complete was the set, that casts 
of the cords and the edges of the tarpaulin were often 
sharply impressed upon the face of the concrete.” 

At the Canal street section, the joints of the caisson were 
so close, as to admit of scarcely any wash, and being in a slip 
with block and bridge piers on either side, the current was 
scarcely perceptible, consequently when the concrete was 
deposited, little more “ laitance ” or milkiness was visible 
than would have been occasioned if fresh made beton blocks 
prepared on land had been immersed in water. That emi¬ 
nent marine engineer, Sir Charles Hartley, in his valuable 
report on the “ Delta of the Danube,” at page 39, says: 
* * * << and t h e absence of divers to execute the work, 

induced the author, at first, to adopt the plan of building the 
wall on a roughly levelled foundation, by carefully lowering 
down masses of unset concrete within movable timber-dams, 
fitted in lengths of from 15 to 30 feet, to the frame-work of 
the piers. This plan was not adopted on a large scale, until 
it had been found, by repeated experiments, that the con¬ 
crete, when made with a sufficient quantity of Portland 
cement, set perfectly hard on a rocky foundation in a seaway, 
although lowered through the water in a semi-liquid state.” 

In passing the cement through the water at Canal street, 
two separate one-yard tubs were used, and the concrete 
mixed was comparatively dry and far from a semi-liquid 
state. 

At page 41 Sir Charles further says : 4 4 The spaces between 
the beton blocks used were filled up with newly made con¬ 
crete, which, searching its way under the adjacent blocks, 
and filling in the grooves, moulded in their sides expressly to 
this end, caused the whole mass to become ultimately as 
solid as if it consisted of but a single stone.” 

As to the strength of the Portland cement used, Sir John 
Coode, in his remarks from Hartley’s description of the 
“ Delta of the Danube,” at page 74, says : 

44 The cement was tested by Grant’s machine to resist a 
tensile strain of 350 pounds per square inch, after being im- 


20 


mersed in water 7 days. He had made large quantities of 
cement in mass under water and at a considerable depth, 
with the proportions of I of cement to 5 of gravel; he had 
executed a large amount of such work for some years past, 
and had built a substantial sea wall to the height of 40 feet 
upon it.” 

The proportions used at Canal and King streets are 
almost identical—1 of cement, 2 of sand, and 5 of broken 
stone. At page 76, same work, Mr. Coode says : “ He had 
lately put down some foundations for a heavy sea work on a 
rough, rocky surface, where, if he had not deposited the 
concrete in mass upon the rock, the expense of preparing the 
bottom to receive the blocks would have been somewhere 
about twice or three times as great, and the time occupied 
would have been three or four times as long as was required 
to execute the works by means of concrete deposited ‘ in 
situ’ upon the bottom in 16 feet of water at the lowest spring 
tides.” 

I further give some excerpts taken from the reports of 
the Institute of Civil Engineers, London, Vol. 1862-3, a 
paper by Daniel Miller, C. E., entitled “ Structures in the 
Sea without Coffer Dams :” 

“ The system of building under water by means of diving- 
bells and diving-dresses has been practised to a considerable 
extent ; and the improved apparatus, now used, gives great 
facilities for this kind of work ; but it is only applicable 
under particular circumstances, and it is also costly , besides 
being liable to cause delay in the progress of the work.” 

“ There are three modes in which concrete may be ap¬ 
plied for constructive purposes—building it in mass and 
allowing it to set before water has access to the work, as has 
been adopted in the construction of the walls of the Victoria 
Docks by Mr. Bidder, and in those of the London Docks by 
the late Mr. Rendel—preparing it first in blocks and allowing 
it to harden before being used, as employed by the late Mr. 
Walker, at the Dover Breakwater, and by Mr. Hawkshaw 
for the new sea forts for protecting the arsenals of Plymouth 
and Portsmouth—and depositing it in a liquid state, and 




21 


allowing it to set under water, as practised upon a gigantic 
scale by M. Noel in the construction of the large Govern¬ 
ment Graving Docks, at Toulon. In the latter case, hydrau¬ 
lic concrete has been deposited in a liquid state in the sea 
water at a depth of about 4° feet, forming a vast rectangular 
trough of beton about ioo feet wide, of the length of each 
dock respectively, and with walls and bottom about 16 feet 
thick.” 

Speaking of the various kinds of hydraulic limes, Mr. 
Miller says : “It may be useful to mention, for comparison, 
the proportions of some of the concretes made from these 
various limes. The Arden lime concrete employed by 
Messrs. Bell & Miller for the foundations of the large Graving 
Docks at Glasgow was composed of i part of ground 
Arden lime, I part of iron mine dust, and 41^ parts of 
gravel and quarry chips. The lias concrete used at the recent 
extension of the London Docks by Mr. Rendel consisted of— 
I part of blue lias lime to 6 parts of gravel and sand. The 
proportions adopted for the blocks of the Mole at Marseilles 
were 2 parts of broken stone to 1 of mortar, the latter being 
composed of 3 parts Tiel lime to 5 of sand.” * * * * * 

“ The Portland cement used at the new Westminster Bridge 
is harder and more compact than the greater number of build¬ 
ing stones, even where put down in the bed of the Thames, 
and where it is exposed to the running stream.” * * * 

“ The author had lately an opportunity of examining at 
Genoa the extension of one of the Moles of the harbor , the 
inner side of which has a vertical wall.” 

“The latter was in process of being constructed under 
water entirely of pozzuolana concfete, simply thrown into the 
sea from baskets, carried on men’s heads, a boarding confin¬ 
ing it to the shape of the wall. In a short period it set quite 
hard, so as to enable the upper part of the wall, which is of 
stone, to be built on it.” # * * * * “ Though the depth 
of the quay wall was not great, this shows the confidence 
which the Italian engineers have in concrete applied under 
water in a soft state. The piers of the new basin constructed 
by the Austrian Government at Pola, in Istria, are also 




22 


formed in a similar manner, of concrete, confined between 
rows of timber piling. But perhaps the most striking appli¬ 
cation on a large scale of pozzuolana concrete, is in the great 
Mole which protects the port of Algiers. To form the Mole, 
blocks ofbeton of immense size, so as to be immovable by 
the force of the sea, were employed, some of these formed 
‘ in situ ,’ by pouring the concrete into large timber cases 
without bottoms, sunk in the sea in the line of the Mole.” 

“ Hydraulic concrete, to be effective, requires great care 
and attention in its manipulation and in the regulation of the 
proper proportions of its materials.” 

“ Any failures must have arisen from inattention to these 
or similar points, as there is ample experience to show, that 
when properly made, every confidence may be placed in the 
strength and durability.” 

In the construction of the Albert Harbor, Greenock, the 
following occurs, same authority: “ The mode in which the 
work was designed was to form the walls under low water, of 
a combination of cast-iron guide piles in front, with a con¬ 
tinuous stone facing, slid down over and inclosing these, and 
of concrete backing deposited in a soft state, all of which 
could be easily accomplished from above the water line.” 

* This plan was felt to be so novel, par¬ 
ticularly as regards the concrete, that, though the Trustees 
as a body had the greatest confidence in the engineers 
(Messrs. Bell & Smith), they considered it to be their duty, 
before proceeding with the work, to fortify themselves by 
having the opinion of another engineer ; accordingly Mr. 
Thomas Page, M. Inst. C. E., was consulted, who fully sat¬ 
isfied them as to the efficiency of hydraulic concrete applied 
in the manner proposed, and otherwise confirmed the sound¬ 
ness of the principles upon which the works were designed. 

Again, same authority : “ Immediately after being mixed, 
and when brought to a proper consistency with water, it is 
conveyed to where it is to be used, is let down under water 
in the discharge boxes, and in a short time sets very hard. 

* This mode of constructing walls in deep 
water, without coffer dams, has proved very successful, and a 


2 3 


sea pier of great solidity and durability has been formed at a 
comparatively moderate cost.” * # # 

“Temporary sheet piling or boarding, instead of loose 
stone, may be employed to keep the concrete in its place 
until it has set.” 

General H. G. Wright, of the United States Engineer 
Corps, an officer of great experience, in a letter addressed to 
Major-General Hamilton, late Superintendent in Charge of 
Yards, on the subject of Rosendale cement, among other 
things, says: “ Of this cement I used some 50,000 bbls. in 
the fort at the Tortugas, a large part of which was for foun¬ 
dations and walls under water; the particular blocks to which 
I referred were laid to test the workings of the tremie. 
* * * * They were laid in 1848, I think ; and when I 

left in 1856, they were in as good condition as when laid, 
the surfaces being apparently as perfect. The concrete was 
made with sea water, no fresh water having been used.” 

In a subsequent statement, more particularly on the 
working of the tremie system , made lately, that eminent 
officer said, “The success attending (the above) induced him 
to construct the foundation of several of the forts in Southern 
waters in a similar manner, and with like success.” 

Forts Jefferson and Carroll he cited as prominent examples. 
•“ # * * * Should not hesitate to construct foun¬ 

dations under water, by depositing liquid concrete in mass % 
if care was taken in its manipulation.” 

Besides the valuable experience of General Wright, as 
above detailed, to my own knowledge mass concrete has 
been used in this country in the construction of foundations 
below water for a period of twenty-five years at least. 

While Engineer of the Brooklyn Navy Yard I constructed 
a wall en masse , which is a standing witness to-day of the 
success of the system. My predecessor in office there used 
somewhat similar means. Mr. McElroy’s wall at the Wall- 
about would have proved a success if attention had been 
given to the placing of more piles in the foundation, and had 
the Rosendale cement used, retained its previously high 
character, and not deteriorated in its tensile strength. 




24 


I will now briefly describe the method of placing this mass 
concrete in situ on the works in question. 

The wall, up to within 2' 2 T \" (two feet two and seven- 
sixteenth inches) of mean low water, is made of a huge mon¬ 
olith of concrete en masse manufactured on the spot and 
deposited in situ. 

The site for the wall was first, thoroughly dredged to a 
mean depth of 20 feet below mean low water ; piles were 
then driven, 8 in a cross section of 17 feet 6 inches, and of an 
average distance of 2 feet 6 inches from centres, except the 
two front rows, which are centred two feet ; longitudinally 
the outer and inner rows were driven as close as could be 
done without interference ; they were punched to about a 
mean distance of 13 feet below mean low water, by means of 
a heavy oak follower 26 feet in length and 12 inches in 
section, armed at the bottom with an iron pintle and banded 
with iron to strengthen against fracture ; this punching obvi¬ 
ated the cutting off of any other than the westerly row, and 
those only for a distance of 180 feet; this uneven punching 
afforded a good grasp to the concrete around their heads. 
Broken stone, measuring about 4 cubic inches, was then 
filled in between the piles and allowed to take a bearing. 
The false work for receiving the concrete was then erected. 
Yellow pine square piles, 12 inches by 12 inches in section, 
and of an average length of 40 feet, were driven in front of 
the westerly row of punched piles at a batter of 1^ inches 
to the foot, and on the back at a batter of y 2 inch to the foot, 
centred longitudinally 8 feet; to the inside of these square 
piles, previous to their being driven, battens of 4 inches by 
2 y 2 inches spruce were nailed on firmly, and on these further 
pieces of spruce, 12 inches by 2 inches, were fastened, form¬ 
ing grooves for receiving constructed wooden shutters or 
gates which were slid into place after the pile alignment was 
perfected. These piles were then capped crosswise by square 
12-inch timber, braced laterally by walling pieces 12x6", and 
on these cross caps stringers were laid, on which were placed 
rails of flat iron to receive the wheels of a movable platform 
car, bearing on it a 10 horse-power engine for the lowering 


25 


of the concrete into the caisson. This platform car had 
erected on it a gallows frame holding traverse wheels with 
pendant bales of iron, from which were suspended double 
block purchases for the lowering and hoisting of two separate 
i-yard buckets, each working from a separate drum indepen¬ 
dent of the other, so that one bucket could be lowered while 
the other was filled. 

The concrete was mixed on a platform in the rear, con¬ 
structed on the stay piles driven in the rear of the wall, 
wheeled to the car, dumped into the buckets or tubs, and 
then lowered into the caisson. The door of the bucket 
being opened from above by a trap rope, did away with the 
necessity of employing divers, and the only occasion when 
divers were used at all was when Mr. McDonald, foreman of 
masons, himself a practical diver, levelled off the top layer 
of concrete to receive the granite facing. The buckets could 
be shifted from above in such a manner as to command any 
portion of the bottom. 

The proportions of the concrete varied occasionally, but 
the usual proportions were, as before stated, I, 2, and 5, or 

1 part cement (Portland), 2 of sharp sand, and 5 of small 
broken stone. 

Concreting was commenced on the 24th of December 
last and continued until the 6th of January, 1875, a layer of 

2 feet being spread over the bottom, soaking into the broken 
stones at the bottom, and binding the pile heads firmly to¬ 
gether. The quantity of ice by this time proving very 
troublesome, concreting was suspended until the middle of 
March (though further piling for the wall was continued 
throughout the winter, with scarcely any intermission), and 
vigorously prosecuted until the end of April, when the whole 
mass necessary was placed. In the hearting of the caisson, 
one-fifth of granite spawls, from the Departmental Stone 
Yard, were placed and thoroughly grouted, preserving the 
stability of the wall and lessening the expense. 

In placing the concrete in water, chilled sometimes to 3 0 
colder than the freezing point of fresh water, some means 
had to be adopted to counteract its chilliness. That eminent 


26 


and versatile engineer, Mr. Chanute, in his report on the 
Kansas City Bridge, says : 

“Both masonry and beton were laid in extremely cold 
weather, the use of hot sand and water being found to make 
this practicable. The sand was heated in large sheet iron 
braziers, and the water warmed in cast-iron kettles, one of 
each being found sufficient to supply the force working on a 
pier. The heat which was thus artificially given to the mor¬ 
tar hastened its setting, causing this to take place before the 
mass had cooled enough to make freezing possible.” 

Mr. T. C. Clarke, in his able and exhaustive report on the 
Quincy Bridge, says : 

“During this time the glass fell as low as 16 ° Fahr. A 
shanty was built on a flat, and in this a kettle was placed on 
a stove, and the cement mixed with hot water. During the 
coldest days each stone was, before being set, held over a 
brazier of charcoal to draw out the frost. The mortar Was 
examined carefully in the spring, and found to be as hard 
and perfect as any on the work. Much of the masonry of 
this bridge was constructed during winter, although none in 
as cold weather as this pier, and there is apparently no dif¬ 
ference in the quality of the mortar whether built in winter 
or summer 

As the quantity of cement used by these gentlemen was 
very small in comparison with that which would have to be 
used in the bulkhead wall in question, some means had to be 
taken of a more extensive nature. For heating the water, 
the following simple apparatus was used. A cask capable 
of containing 60 gallons of water, holding a coil pipe, was 
placed on the movable car, and through this coil the steam from 
the boiler of the engine was passed at will ; this heating was 
done very rapidly and efficiently, it only taking from 4 to 8 
minutes to heat the whole 60 gallons from 32° to ioo° -Fahr., 
the water thus heated being carried to the mixing platform 
by india-rubber tubing. To heat the sand and broken stone, 
heaters made of iron, similar to those used in street paving, 
were constructed by Mr. Joseph Edwards, 414 Water street, 
New York, each capable of heating a cubic yard of material, 


27 


the fuel used being old barrel staves, etc. They did their work 
thoroughly, and by this means work was carried on, on one 
occasion when the temperature of the air was ii° Fahr. and 
that of the water 32°, the concrete becoming as hard as if 
made during the hottest summer months, thus practically 
substantiating the opinions of Messrs. Chanute and 
Clarke. 

In laying the backing to the granite facing I have intro¬ 
duced a change from that at Christopher street section, 
which has materially lessened the expense, while preserving 
the stability of the wall. Blocks of about three cubic yards 
capacity were made at the Seventeenth street yard out of 
old granite spawls and Portland cement; when sufficiently 
compact they were transported to Canal street, and placed 
in position with great rapidity, over 70 lineal feet being laid 
during one tide. The success attending the use of these 
rubble blocks has been such that I have recommended to the 
Board in my report on the “ Development of the Harlem 
River and Spuyten Duyvil Creek for Commercial Purposes/' 
that the bulkhead wall when constructed should be composed 
of beton placed en masse with a rubble masonry facing sur¬ 
mounted by a granite cope. 

On the removal of the shutters and square piles—the 
false work of the caisson—which had been down nearly three 
months, Mr. McDonald carefully examined the sides of the 
monolith and reported that he found it as smooth and com¬ 
pact in appearance as any blocks he had ever seen which 
were manufactured on land—and no sign of honey-comb. 
This assertion was verified by my assistants, who passed a 
boat hook all along the sides both front and rear, and found 
it as smooth as the Gansevoort street manufactured blocks ; 
the edges of the berme,” too, 6 inches in width where the 
stone facing springs from the monolith of concrete, was as 
distinctly defined as that of a well cut piece of granite. A 
great saving has been effected by this system of construction, 
over that of the block system, including coping not as yet 
required on this section (the wall constructed being in the 
wake of the pier); the saving amounts to $67.77 P er foot 


28 


run, or over $350,000 per mile, the cost per foot run being 
$311.67. 

By having a long stretch of work, a judicious use of 
labor, and using made rubble blocks surmounted by granite 
cope, instead of cut facing, I am of the opinion that the cost 
can be reduced at least 20 per cent. 

It is worthy of notice, before leaving this section, that in 
the pile foundation, now waiting stone-packing, driven to 
the north of the already completed wall, 207 old piles, drawn 
up from the north half of old Pier 42, and which had been 
down for a period of over 25 years, were driven in the 
foundation, the only fact noticeable being, that a few of the 
heads required recutting ; otherwise they were as good as 
the day they first were driven. 


King Street Section. 

The dredging for the river wall between old piers num¬ 
bers 45 and 46 was begun November 16, 1874, and amounted 
to 3,600 cubic yards. The foundation is to be 175^ by 147 
feet, and 678 piles were driven. The caisson, 147 feet long, 
is constructed in the same manner with that at Canal street, 
and 626 cubic yards of 4-inch stone have been thrown in, and 
1,225 cubic yards of rip-rap stone have been placed in front 
and rear of the caisson. 


Gansevoort Street Yard. 

The following alterations were made at Gansevoort street 
yard, during the year : 

The manufacture of beton blocks for the river wall being 
no longer carried on at this yard, the platforms upon which 
about 9,300 cubic yards had been made during the previous 
two years, were removed. 


29 


The preparations for surrounding yard number 3, involved 
the removal of a large amount of varied stores and mate¬ 
rials. 

The grade of the yards and bulkhead was raised an aver¬ 
age of three feet, to conform to the new level established, 
with ashes and like material delivered by the Street Cleaning 
Department. 

A new blacksmith shop was built in the middle yard ; the 
grade of the store-house floor was changed, and one-half of 
the large store-house was partitioned off into small store-rooms 
for the floating property, and repairs and supplies, and 
an office, leaving the other half, which is 164 feet long by 
24 feet wide, for the storage of cement, with a capacity of 
3,400 barrels. The fences and gates of all the yards were 
also raised. 

Yards hitherto known as “yards numbers I and 3 ” have 
been turned over to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, 
yard number 2, with one pier, being retained for the uses of 
this Department. The dimensions of yard number 2 are 
163 feet in length by 52 feet in width, in which has been built 
the new blacksmith shop, the remaining space being occupied 
by a shed for forge coal, a bin for hard coal, containing about 
39 tons, and for the storage of wheelbarrows, lumber, beton 
moulds, and miscellaneous material. 

For a detailed statement of purchases, receipts, and de¬ 
liveries of every description, and of articles manufactured, 
and stock on hand, reference is requested to the returns from 
Gansevoort street yard in the “Appendix ” accompanying 
this report. 


East Seventeenth Street Yard. 

During the year about 1,300 feet of narrow-gauge railway 
has been constructed at this yard, at an average cost of one 
dollar per running foot. This, with four cars, made at the 
yard—two for cement and two for granite—greatly reduces the 


30 


cost of loading and unloading stone and cement. The rail¬ 
road also renders every part of the yard available for storing 
stone, while formerly only the bulkhead could be used for 
that purpose. 

The store-house, besides the portion used for storing iron 
bolts, and small articles, and the carpenter’s shop, can con¬ 
veniently receive about 5,000 barrels of cement. 

The blacksmith’s shop contains four forges, three of which 
would be sufficient to sharpen tools fora force of thirty stone¬ 
cutters, and the remaining forge could be used for any gen¬ 
eral blacksmith work required by the Department along the 
East river front. 

The cost of stone-cutting for the year, at $1.42 per cubic 
foot, is less than the same work could be done for by con¬ 
tract. This result has been attained by the system of keep¬ 
ing an account of the work done by each stone-cutter, and 
requiring all to come up to a certain standard. The yard 
itself possesses great advantages, either for cutting stone or 
simply for storing it until required for use at the several sec¬ 
tions. Besides the space occupied by buildings, it has an 
area of 2\ acres, available for storage purposes, with a bulk¬ 
head front of 645 lineal feet. 

Between April 10th and May 14th, 1875, there were 
manufactured at this yard 36 rubble blocks, at a cost of $9.77 
per cubic yard. The first 18 of these blocks cost $10.70 per 
cubic yard, and the last 18 cost but $8.84 per cubic yard ; the 
lesser cost of the latter being due to the fact that the plat¬ 
forms upon which they were built were all finished for the 
first lot, and, consequently, no carpenter work enters into 
the estimate. 


Floating Property. 

The floating property of the Department of Docks is as 
follows : 

Three tug-boats, in good condition, with the exception 
of the Louis, undergoing repairs. 


3 1 


Four dredges, all in good condition. 

Nine pile-drivers, all in good condition, except “ No. 6.” 
Eighteen mud-scows, all in good condition except four. 
One patrol-boat. 

Eleven deck scows—four of them new. 

One boring machine, for taking soundings. 

For details of floating property and of dredging, etc., 
performed during the year, see “ Appendix. ” 


General Repairs. 

The general repairs to old piers and other structures, per¬ 
formed since February i, 1875, at which time work of this 
class was placed under my supervision, were as follows : 

The dumping-board at the foot of Forty-sixth street, East 
river, was repaired on the 10th of February, and again on 
the 4th of March. 

At Blackwell’s Island three platforms were built, for the 
use of the Police Department scows, and of the following 
dimensions: 51x31^ feet; 43x32 feet; and 41x26 feet; 
constructed between February 27th and March 10th. 

At Randall’s Island an extension on a pier was built, 23 
feet long by 7 4 feet wide, from March 9th to 19th. 

Repairs were made on Piers Nos. 40 and 41, East river, 
February 26th to March 26th ; Pier No. 6, East river, March 
20th to 23d ; Pier No. 7, East river, March 25th to April 5th. 
These repairs consisted mainly in work at the outer ends of 
the piers, which had been damaged by the ice, as in putting 
on fenders, corner bands, clusters and spring piles. 

The bulkhead between Gansevoort street and Little 
Twelfth street was raised two feet, for a length of 733 feet, to 
conform to the grade of Thirteenth avenue, between March 
20th and April 6th. 

The bulkhead at the foot of East Seventeenth street was 
repaired and strengthened, fora length of 450 feet, by driving 
down 49 piles, April 2d to 10th. 


32 


Pier No. 37, East river, was repaired, with spring piles, 
chocks, and fenders, April 6th to 14th. 

The pier at the foot of Twenty-eighth street, East river, 
was repaired, with new fenders and backing logs, April 14th 
to 19th. 

The pier at the foot of Twenty-fourth street, North river, 
was extended, 50 by 50 feet, April 14th to May 5th. 

A platform, 100 feet long, extending out 20 feet, was 
built against the bulkhead at the foot of One Hundred and 
Thirtieth street, North river, April 16th to 24th. 

Pier 46, East river, was repaired, April 21st to 27th ; the 
pier at the foot of Forty-sixth street, North river, April 26th 
to 27th ; the pier at the foot of One Hundred and Fifty-fifth 
street, North river, April 26th; the pier at the foot of 
Twenty-sixth street, North river, April 27th to 30th ; the 
bulkhead between piers Nos. 45 and 46, East river, April 
28th to May 1st, and the pier at the foot of Forty-seventh 
street, North river, April 27th to May 1st. 

A cluster of piles was driven and secured to the end of 
Pier No. 38, East river, to keep vessels off the old block. 

On the 30th of April the following works were in progress : 
Repairs at the foot of Twenty-fifth street, North river ; at 
Fifty-first street, North river ; and the tearing up of the pier 
at the foot of Ninety-sixth street, North river. 

The damage to piers from floating ice has been unusually 
severe during the past winter. Ninety piles were cut from 
under the pier at the foot of One Hundred and Twenty-ninth 
street, North river, leaving the deck unsupported for about 
100 feet. All but about 50 feet of the pier at the foot of 
Ninety-sixth street, North river, was entirely carried away, 
and, on the East river, the ends of Piers Nos. 12 and 38 were 
entirely wrecked. 

For the general repairs performed prior to February 1st, 
1875, under the supervision of the Superintendent of Repairs 
and Supplies, and for more minute details of work accom¬ 
plished, I would refer to the “Appendix ” accompanying this 
report. 


33 


Harlem River. 

The great difficulty which has thus far prevented the im¬ 
provement of the Harlem river has been the clashing of 
authority, delegated by the Legislature to the different com¬ 
missions. 

April 15th, 18"i, an act was passed giving the Depart¬ 
ment of Public Parks full power “ to build or construct, 
by contract or otherwise, any and all improvements in the 
navigation of Harlem river and Spuyten Duyvil creek, 
which said Department might plan or locate.” 

Three days after the passage of the above act another was 
passed, which amended the “act creating the Department 
of Docks,” and provided that the plans of this Department, 
when confirmed by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, 
should constitute the sole authority for the solid filling in the 
waters surrounding the City of New York, and repealing all 
other provisions of law regulating solid filling and pier and 
bulkhead lines in said waters. 

Thus by the latest act the “ Department of Docks ” was 
given the authority, with the confirmation of the Sinking 
Fund Commissioners, to lawfully supersede any lines estab¬ 
lished by the Park Commissioners or by any other commis¬ 
sion. 

The authority to determine upon a plan or plans for the 
improvement of the whole or any part of the water front of 
the city, was so clearly the prerogative of the Department of 
Docks, that the Park Commissioners, in a report to the 
Senate April 1st, 1872, made use of the following language: 
“A question having arisen as to the jurisdiction of the Board 
over the Harlem river, the work, so far as related to special 
hydrographic objects was suspended, and only so much as 
relates to other objects has since been continued. 

In March, 1872, the Commissioners of the Department of 
Docks submitted to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund 
new pier and bulkhead lines for that part of the city north of 


3 


34 


Sixty-first street, including the Harlem river and Spuyten 
Duyvil creek. These lines were neither accepted nor re¬ 
jected by the Sinking Fund Commissioners. 

Although as far as the Harlem river was concerned, it 
made but little difference, as the lines submitted by the Dock 
Commissioners were almost identical with the then existing 
lines which had been made by the Park Commissioners in 
1868. 

In this condition of affairs the new Charter was passed 
April 30th, 1873, which rescinded the authority previously 
delegated to the Department of Docks, and in the following 
language it is claimed by the Department of Parks, confirmed 
their lines : “ There shall be a Department of Docks, the head 
of which shall be a Board consisting of three persons, * * * 
who shall possess such power and perform such duties, as are 
now possessed by the existing Department of Docks, but said 
Board shall not have the power to change the exterior line 
of piers and bulkheads as now established by law.” 

The Charter by taking away the power from the Depart¬ 
ment of Docks to establish pier and bulkhead lines effectually 
suspends the improvement of the Harlem river, for no im¬ 
provement of a permanent character and based upon a knowl¬ 
edge of the tidal laws in this and the Hudson river, can take 
place, until the existing lines in this locality are changed, or, 
in other words, until the section of the improved river, instead 
of being contracted in Spuyten Duyvil creek is made as wide 
or wider than the Harlem river. 

In brief, the whole improvement of the Harlem river and 
Spuyten Duyvil creek consists in so adjusting the lines of 
solid filling, as that the best interchange of tides between the 
East and Hudson rivers may take place ; and, inasmuch as 
the existing lines were planned without any reference to the 
flow of the tides, to have them legally changed is the first 
step towards the improvement of these rivers. 

In April, 1874, the Legislature passed a joint resolution, 
calling upon the Department of Docks to make the necessary 
surveys and soundings from the mouth of the Bronx river 
to the southerly boundary of Yonkers, in the recently annexed 


35 


Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards. Instead of at 
once entering upon the survey, with the view of giving the 
city an accurate map of the water front in these wards—a want 
which is still severely felt by those holding property along the 
Harlem river—nothing was done in the matter. 

The very full reports furnished by me in relation to this 
survey, and which accompanied the recent report of the Com¬ 
missioners in answer to the concurrent resolution of inquiry 
by the last Legislature as to the reason of the work not having 
been prosecuted, contain the reasons, in detail, why the nu¬ 
merous surveys that have been made in this region from time 
to time do not meet the present wants. 

The assertion contained in these reports that “ No com¬ 
plete hydrographic map of the Harlem river, Spuyten Duy- 
vil creek, and the water front of the recently annexed 
Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards, exists at the present 
time ” is still true, notwithstanding the recent survey made 
by General Newton. This, while an excellent one of its 
kind, and useful for certain purposes, entirely fails to fur¬ 
nish the detailed information required to locate the water 
front of a rapidly-growing city, nor could it be considered as 
anything more than a preliminary survey, in the event of any 
extensive river improvement being entered upon. 

The survey called for by the resolution above mentioned, 
is required, whether the Harlem river be improved or not; 
but should any measure be adopted for the readjustment of 
its bulkhead lines, the necessity for this survey will be more 
apparent than ever. 

Should the Department of Docks be vested with the 
power, by the Legislature, to establish permanent lines for 
the solid filling on the Harlem river, these lines should be, as 
I have shown in a report made to this Board May 20 , 1875* 
either parallel lines through the Harlem river and Spuyten 
Duyvil creek, or lines diverging from the Harlem river, so as 
to increase the section of the improved river at its mouth on 
the Hudson. Where continuous parallel bulkhead lines are 
insufficient to accommodate the requirements of commerce, 
the system of parallel piers being entirely inadmissible in 


36 


consequence of the narrowness of the river, I advocate the 
construction of wet basins within the masonry bulkhead. 

The bulkhead wall, when constructed, should be com¬ 
posed of beton, placed in situ , with a rubble masonry 
facing, surmounted by a granite cope. 

In conclusion, I desire to express, in the most emphatic 
manner, the wisdom of adhering to the natural channel 
of the river, as proposed by the Harbor Commissioners in 
1857, the Department of Parks in 1868, and the Department 
of Docks in 1870. 

Artificial channels, for the purpose of making short cuts 
between portions of the same river, or between a river and 
bay, are of doubtful utility at the best, and when such a 
canal would, as in the present instance, intercept established 
lines of communication between the city and the recently 
annexed territory, and destroy the value of a vast amount of 
property which has already been partially improved with a 
prospective view to its occupation for commercial purposes, 
its construction should not be thought of. 


North River. 

In 1834 Commissioners were appointed by the States of 
New York and New Jersey, to define the boundary line be¬ 
tween these two States in the Hudson river and New York 
bay, and their report was ratified and confirmed by their 
respective Legislatures and by Congress. 

If some joint action of this kind had been taken by the 
two States, in 1855, when New York appointed a Commission 
“ for the preservation of the harbor,” the vexed question of 
encroachment in the coterminous waters of New York and 
New Jersey might have been settled forever. 

That the New York Harbor Commissioners were fully 
sensible of the fact that their work would only be half done, 
unless in some way it could receive the sanction and co¬ 
operation of New Jersey, we can see from their report in 


37 


which they say : “ It was obvious that the preservation of 
the harbor, and a just regard to the interests of the States, 
required that proper limits should be defined on either shore, 
and that these limits ought to be simultaneously determined. 
If, in the absence of restrictions, piers were unduly projected 
into the river from one shore, they might have an injurious 
influence on the other; or, if from both, there was reason to 
apprehend that the navigation of the river would be 
affected.” 

Entertaining these views, the New York Harbor Com¬ 
missioners addressed a communication to Governor R. M. 
Price, of New Jersey, asking him whether, if they laid pier 
and bulkhead lines for both States, they would be accepted 
by the State of New Jersey. 

To this the Governor responded that any lines laid down 
for the New Jersey shore, while they would be received with 
great confidence for impartiality, could not be legally fixed 
or accepted without being confirmed by the respective Legis¬ 
latures of New York and New Jersey, and by the Congress 
of the United States. 

Here the matter rested. The New York Harbor Com¬ 
missioners laid down pier and bulkhead lines for both shores 
in the Hudson river and New York bay, but they were never 
accepted by New Jersey. 

In 1865 a report was made by Commissioners appointed by 
the Legislature of New Jersey, which contained a survey of 
the land lying under the waters of the Hudson river and 
New York bay, with proposed pier and bulkhead lines for 
this locality. 

The lines laid down by this Commission are the governing 
lines, I believe, at the present date. Whether they were de¬ 
termined with any reference to maintaining the capacity of 
the Hudson river as a tidal reservoir, and thereby keeping 
the channel at Sandy Hook the same, or whether the more 
narrow policy of looking after local interests merely prevailed, 
I am unable to state; but I should think the subject impor¬ 
tant enough to warrant the appointment of a joint' commis¬ 
sion by both States, and after their report shall have been 


1 


38 


made, to lay the matter before Congress for final confirmation, 
just as was done in the boundary question in 1834. 

It seems not a little curious that such an important ques¬ 
tion, in which both States are equally interested, should have 
slumbered so long ; and not only New York and New Jer¬ 
sey, but the Federal Government itself, is interested in pre¬ 
serving the best harbor of the country, which yields by far 
the largest revenue. 

The most thorough and intelligent representation of the 
whole subject was made by the Harbor Commissioners, in 
1856, to both State Governments ; and it is to be much re¬ 
gretted that in neither State have their lines been adhered 
to in the controlling sections of the Hudson river. 

The gradual but constant advancement of Sandy Hook 
toward the channels from the ocean, will, at some future date, 
seriously affect the commercial supremacy of the port. With¬ 
in a century it has increased a mile and a quarter, and in the 
twelve years from 1844 to 1856, it advanced a quarter of a 
mile. 

Various causes have been assigned for this alarming pro¬ 
gression ; but while no one of them seems sufficient to pro¬ 
duce the result, it probably arises from several. 

Among the principal of these, are the indiscriminate 
dumping of ashes and other solid material in all parts of the 
harbor, and the extension of the pier and bulkhead lines at 
points where the river should not be contracted, and which 
has resulted in the partial exclusion of the tidal waters. 


East River. 

I would respectfully suggest, in connection with the pro¬ 
posed improvements on the East river water front, that this 
work should not be entered upon by the Department until 
the modifications and changes in the existing lines, as re¬ 
commended in my letters to the Board of February 12, and 
March 16, 1875, shall be authorized by the Legislature. 


39 


These changes contemplate, first, a reduction in the 
width of the river street, from the Battery to Corlear’s Hook, 
and in the length of the piers in the same locality; and, 
secondly, to omit altogether the precise location of the new 
piers, establishing merely the pier and bulkhead lines. De¬ 
termining the location and dimensions of new piers in 
advance of the demand for them, is productive of serious 
embarrassment to the Department, and I am firmly con¬ 
vinced that all that is required in reference to these piers, at 
this time, is the establishment by the city of a pier line or 
limit of encroachment, beyond which no structure should be 
permitted. 

It should by no means, however, be made obligatory on 
the Department to carry all their piers out to this line ; on 
the contrary, specific dimensions should be left to the dis¬ 
cretion of the Board of Commissioners, and should be decided 
from time to time, by the demands of commerce in each 
locality, as well as by the ascertained configuration of the 
shore and river bed. 

The width of the channel in the East river upon which 
the calculations of General McClellan were based, for the lines 
proposed in 1870, has been materially reduced since then by 
the extensive and unrestrained construction of solid bulk¬ 
heads and projecting works on the Brooklyn side. This shows 
the necessity of the Legislature fixing the limits on both 
shores simultaneously, and with reference to the preservation 
of the harbor. 

Fortunately, in this case, both sides of the river are within 
the jurisdiction of the same State, and we do not have the 
complication which exists in the settlement of similar ques¬ 
tions affecting the Hudson river side of the city, of a treaty 
with New Jersey, and the necessity of its ratification by the 
Congress of the United States. 

The Contract System. 

In my judgment, derived from my experience in the con¬ 
struction of the several works described in this report, the 


40 


contract system cannot be economically or successfully 
applied in carrying out the plans of this department. It will 
at all times be necessary so to manage operations on any 
given section of the river-wall and the slips and piers belong¬ 
ing thereto, as to cause the least possible obstruction to 
commerce, and this will involve as at the Christopher street 
and Canal street sections, the construction, maintenance, 
modification, and removal, of a system of temporary con¬ 
nections, and the like, which, from the very nature of the 
case, could not be foreseen and calculated with sufficient 
accuracy to admit of proper description in specifications for 
a contract. On the other hand, should a contract for any 
such work be made without provision for such inevitable in¬ 
terruptions and outlays, the city would be involved in inter¬ 
minable disputes, as well as made liable to vexatious claims 
for damages and demurrage. 

In view of this necessity of dispensing with the contract 
system on all new work, I have steadily endeavored so to 
simplify the method of construction as to admit of the em¬ 
ployment of the largest possible proportion of unskilled 
labor ; and it had been my intention to still further extend the 
application of this idea upon the works yet to be undertaken. 

A striking commentary upon the undesirable nature of 
the contract system, in connection with structures upon whose 
constant use the commerce of the city is necessarily depend¬ 
ent, is to be found in the history of our general repairs,, 
during the past season. The piers at the foot of Clintor* 
street, East river (No. 38), and at the foot of One Hundred 
and Twenty-ninth street, North river, were carried away by 
the ice on the 18th of March, and the proposals for contracts 
for rebuilding them were opened on the nth of June. If 
we suppose these piers, instead of being in localities where 
the demand for their use was comparatively unimportant, had 
been in the lower part of the city, say near the foot of War¬ 
ren street, it will at once appear that the system which would 
have deprived commerce of their use for so long a time, 
must be radically defective. In any extended destruction of 
wharf property, by fire or flood, the contract system would 


4i 


be found an incomparably greater calamity than either the 
flood or the fire. Neither is it true that the city cannot find 
honest and capable servants, who will so manage the duties 
intrusted to them, as to insure economy as well as all other 
desirable results. 


Conclusion. 

In time of war it is customary to commend the gallant 
acts and daring exploits of individuals in the official reports. 
Why this custom has not been more generally extended to 
the pursuits of civil life, has often been a matter of surprise 
to me. Peace has her victories as well as war, and churlish 
indeed must be the leader, in a great civil work, who with¬ 
holds from his subordinates the meed of praise which is their 
due. 

Coming into the Department an entire stranger, I should 
have been much embarrassed, but for the loyalty of certain 
gentlemen to the profession to which they and I belong. 

Conspicuous among these was Mr. John D. Van Buren, 
Jr., late Assistant Engineer of this Department, and now a 
member of the State Commission for the investigation of 
canal frauds. In the construction of the works at Christo¬ 
pher street, of which he had the immediate supervision, Mr. 
Van Buren, by his professional attainments, his untiring in¬ 
dustry, and his strict integrity of character, won my admira¬ 
tion and respect, and rendered this arduous undertaking 
a pleasure. 

To Mr. C. B. Kid* Assistant Engineer, formerly Mr. Van 
Buren’s coadjutor, and subsequently his successor, I am like¬ 
wise under obligations, for the unswerving fidelity as well as 
for the varied knowledge and skill he displayed on several 
trying occasions. 

To Capt. W. W. Maclay, the industrious and skillful 
Assistant Engineer, who fitted out the East Seventeenth 
street yard, making it the most complete work-yard in the 


42 


country, and carried out a system of supervision by which 
the labor performed by each stone-cutter could be accurately 
demonstrated, I owe my hearty thanks. 

To Mr. W. N. Radenhurst, Inspector of Engineering, 
who has so ably supervised the construction of the Canal 
street section, which may be regarded as a trial work, and 
who likewise assisted me on many occasions, in elaborate 
calculations and difficult reports relating to important sub¬ 
jects connected with my duties, I desire to express my most 
earnest appreciation. 

To Edward McDonald, Master Mason, whom I found a 
mere diver, and advanced to the most important mechanical 
post connected with the masonry bulkhead, I desire to ex¬ 
press my appreciation of his practical knowledge, steady 
industry, and able management of the force under his con¬ 
trol. 

Mr. Thomas Murphy, Superintendent in charge of con¬ 
struction at new Pier No. I, North river, is entitled to a 
hearty recognition of the manner in which he has performed 
the duties originally intrusted to him by Gen. McClellan. 

To Messrs. Staats, Suiveyor ; Aitken, Recorder; Rath- 
bone, Chainman; and to the several foremen and time¬ 
keepers of the various works, I likewise feel myself to be 
under many obligations. 

To Mr. W. O. Stoddard, the Chief Clerk of my office, 
who has supervised the labors of my desk, and assisted me 
by night and by day, in conducting a large correspondence 
and in the preparation of my reports, I feel that much praise 
is due. Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, • 

(Signed) CHARLES K. GRAHAM, 

Engincer-in-Chief. 

All the appendices referred to in the body of this Report are 
omitted, as this edition is merely issued for private distribution. 


ADDENDA. 


237 Broadway, New York, ) 
July 13, 1875. ( 

On the 2d day of June last I resigned my position as Engineer- 
in-Chief of the Department of Docks, and on the 9th day of the 
same month it was accepted. Up to thjs time, in consequence of 
the onerous character of my duties, not a syllable of this report had 
been written, although it should have been in the hands of the 
Secretary of the Board at least a month earlier; consequently, con¬ 
ceiving it to be a matter of honor to prepare it before taking final 
leave of the Department, I remained without pay until it was com¬ 
pleted, on the 19th day of June. 

In the haste of preparation certain matters of consequence may 
have been omitted, and others of minor importance may have re¬ 
ceived more attention than was their due. In estimating its merits, 
I trust these facts will be taken into consideration. 

CHARLES K. GRAHAM. 


Pier No. i. 

Until the spring of the year 1874, all the beton blocks were 
manufactured at the Gansevoort street yard, and were transported 
in scows to the points where they were to be used; consequently 
the large derrick was employed at least two-thirds of the time 
merely for lifting purposes, and only one-third of the time in the 
profitable process of construction. 



44 


A sufficient stretch of the masonry wall having been finished 
adjacent to Pier No. i to allow filling in, platforms were erected on 
the reclaimed land and the manufacture of blocks for the pier com¬ 
menced there. At the same time it was deemed advisable to reduce 
the height of the pier blocks, as the cost of manufacturing a block 
14 feet in height greatly exceeded that of one 6 or 7 feet high, and, 
moreover, the large derrick had been so continuously employed that 
it was unwise to imperil her usefulness by lifting such large masses, as 
in the event of a serious accident occurring to her, there was no 
machine, either attached to the Department or the property of 
private parties, which was capable of taking her place. 

As the large derrick was occupied a greater portion of the year 
1874 on the Christopher street section, little progress could have 
been made at Pier No. 1 but for these changes ; and towards the 
close of the year when work was being prosecuted vigorously on all 
the sections, the reduction in the size of these blocks enabled Dela- 
mater’s floating derrick to be advantageously employed in placing 
them. 

As stated in my report, I at one time contemplated a change in 
the foundations of Pier No. 1, and in order that this proposed alter- 
tion may be thoroughly understood, the letter to the Board, suggest¬ 
ing it, is annexed. 


New York, March 17, 1874. 

Eugene T. Lynch, Esq., 

Secretary of the Board of Docks : 

Sir —As we are about to resume operations on Pier No. 1, 
N. R., I consider it my duty to call your attention to certain weak 
points in the foundations of that structure, and suggest a method by 
which they may be overcome, with a great saving in cost of con¬ 
struction and a probability that the work can be completed several 
months earlier by its adoption. 

The plan proposed by General McClellan calls for timber-cribs, 
filled in with concrete, upon which the sub-piers are to rest. 

The objection to the use of cribs are— 

First. The difficulty of placing them in position, owing to the 
force of the current. 

Second. The impossibility of making an accurate fit of their 
lower edges to the rocky bottom of the river. 

Third. The fact that the concrete has to be lowered through 
from 25 to 40 feet depth of water and deposited in the crib by 
divers. In the passage through the water much of the cement is 
removed, rendering the concrete weaker. In the process of filling, 
very little force can be exerted by the diver, as he has almost as 


45 


much as he can do to take care of himself; consequently the 
material cannot be properly rammed, and large openings may exist 
in the foundation which time alone can develop. 

In place of the crib foundation, I propose that a foundation of 
rip-rap should be placed, from the eighth crib, now ready to be laid, 
up to and including the pier-head, at a depth of 28 feet below mean 
low water. 

The advantages of this foundation are— 

First. That it can be commenced immediately and continued 
without interruption until it is completed. 

Second. That it can be weighted, as it progresses, with twice 
the superincumbent weight it is intended to bear, and brought to a 
soild bearing. 

Third. That the large expense incurred by and the uncertainty 
attending the use of divers may be, in a great measure, done away 
with. 

Fourth. That no concrete or beton will have to be employed, 
except that which has been properly manufactured in moulds and 
exposed to the air until it has been thoroughly hardened. 

To counterbalance these advantages, but one objection can be 
urged—the reduction in the water-way; but, as the reduction pro¬ 
posed, as will be seen by the accompanying statement, will only 
amount to 6 jsu per cent., and the saving in cost will alone be at 
least $50,000; I do not think it should be seriously entertained. 

Your obedient servant, 

(Signed) CHARLES K. GRAHAM, 

Engineer-in- Chief. 


My last important official act was to address the annexed com¬ 
munication to the Board. 

June 8, 1875. 

Eugene T. Lynch, Esq., 

Secretary of the Board of Docks ; 

Sir _On the 27th of January last, I had the honor to make 

the following reply to a communication from the Board of Com¬ 
missioners governing this Department : 

“ In response to the resolution of the Board of Commissioners 
governing this Department, of the 21st inst., with reference to the 
reduction of the proposed length of new Pier No. 1, North river, I 
have the honor to say, that, in my judgment, there are no engineer¬ 
ing difficulties in the way of the construction of that pier to a full 


46 


length of five hundred feet, but I submit, nevertheless, that it would 
be unwise to do so, for the following reasons: 

“ The situation of the pier is so exposed, and it is so open to the 
effects of the southeast winds, that, during a large part of the year, 
it can only be advantageously occupied on the north side : for this 
reason and likewise, because of the insufficient depth of water along¬ 
side the pier, the depth at mean low water, in some places, not ex¬ 
ceeding 21 or 22 feet, and of the rocky nature of the bottom, this 
pier can never be occupied by steamships of great length and draft. 

“ Moreover, this excessive length of five hundred feet would 
render the pier an obstacle to vessels coming in the Bay and in¬ 
tending to round to in slips not very distant from it. 

“ For reasons given above, this pier will probably be occupied, 
when completed, by some large railway corporation for the receipt 
and delivery of heavy freight. 

“ I now respectfully recommend that the length of Pier No. i. 
North river, may be reduced to 425 feet, for the reasons already 
assigned in the above communication, and for the following, in 
addition : 

“ 1. Mr. Isaac Newton, the Assistant Engineer, in charge of the 
construction of Pier No. 1, stated to me shortly after my appoint¬ 
ment, that he had already advised Gen. McClellan to reduce the 
pier to a length of 400 feet, and he has recently stated to Mr. Raden- 
hurst, Inspector of Engineering, that there was a letter from him to 
Gen. McClellan, on file, to that effect. This latter must be a 
mistake, however, as it cannot be found in any of the letter-books. 

“ 2. Scientists agree that a diver cannot work effectively in a 
depth of fifty feet of water, even when it is clear and free from 
current. 

“ 3. Practical divers tell me that it is impossible for them to work 
advantageously in a three-knot current; consequently, it is my con¬ 
scientious belief that if divers are employed in the increased depth 
of water and accelerated current at the termination of the pier as at 
present proposed, their operations will consist in little more than 
holding on to the foundation of the pier in order to prevent them¬ 
selves being swept away. 

“ 4. It will be observed that from the seventeenth arch to the pier¬ 
head, in a distance of seventy-five feet, the rock bottom shelves ten 
feet, running from 45 feet to 55 feet. 

“ If the pier is reduced to the length suggested, it can be com¬ 
pleted this season without difficulty, and at a saving to the Depart¬ 
ment of at least $75,000. This estimate allows for the price of the 
granite furnished for the entire pier, the unused part of which may 
be utilized on other portions of the work.” 


47 - 


I was given to understand, at the time my above quoted com¬ 
munication was received, that the majority of the Board, as then 
constituted, was in favor of the reduction proposed, and in view of 
the fact that changes in its membership have since occurred, I deem 
it my duty at this time to renew my recommendation with reference 
to a permanent structure of such extent and importance. 

The work is now progressing so rapidly that the question in¬ 
volved should be settled within the ensuing month. 

Your obedient servant, 

CHARLES K. GRAHAM, 

Engineer-in- Chief. 


The entire success of the “ beton en masse system ” on the 
Canal and King street sections had determined me to recommend 
to the Board its adoption for the future construction of Pier No. i, 
it being my intention, if the suggestion was accepted, to substitute 
cribs formed of dock logs for the finished timber cribs, and to raise 
from them as platforms wet caissons, so that the employment of 
divers could be dispensed with except for the sole purpose of locat¬ 
ing the cribs, the employment of divers in a current of at least three 
knots velocity, and in a depth of water, as the pier approaches its 
termination of nearly 50 feet, being a dangerous and profitless oper¬ 
ation. 

Moreover, I proposed to make the pier-head foundation of two 
parallel cribs, at right angles with the axis of the pier, connected by 
two parallel cribs longitudinally placed; to fill in the cribs only with 
concrete, and to place rubble in the centre. The adoption of these 
expedients and the reduction of the length of the pier to 425 feet, 
which had already been strongly advised by me for reasons which, 
in my judgment, are incontrovertible, would enable the pier to be 
completed, this year, at a saving of at least $100,000. 


Christopher Street Section. 

When this section was progressing I directed Mr. Radenhurst, 
Inspector of Engineering, to collect all data possible to show the 
utter inability of wooden bulkheads, located under similar con¬ 
ditions, to withstand the severe lateral pressure exerted by the 
immense mass of earth filling they would be compelled to sustain, 
without such excessive distortion as would render them entirely un¬ 
suitable for foundations upon which to construct any masonry wall, 
from low water up, intended to preserve a uniform alignment, free 
from unsightly openings and subsidences. The result of his labors 
is attached: 


48 


Memoranda. 

Facts collected respecting the distortion of wooden bulkhead walls from 
lateral earth pressure. 


No. 


Data furnished 
by 


A. J. Murray. 


J. Guthrie. 

W. N. Radenhurst 


Position. 


34th st. to 37th st., N. R. 
38th st. to 40th st., 

Jane st. to 12th st., 

West nth st , 

35th st. to 38th st., E. R. 
34th st. to 35th st., 

23d st. to 25th st., 
nth st. to 13th st., 

96th st. to 100th st., 

17th st., 

30th st. to 33d st., 

(H. R. R. improvement 
\ 65th st., N. R. 


Effect of Distortion. 


12 to 14 feet, out irregularly. 
About 7 


from original line 


By whom 
built. 


G. White* 


B. Kelly. 
Jenks. 


Kelly. 

Earl. 

Kelly. 


2 to 14 feet,irregularlyt 
Block gone irregularly some 3 or 4 feet, 
canting over at same time. The force 
of pressure not as yet felt.J 


Memoranda.— Some facts stated by Assistant Superintendent 
Guthrie in relation to the building of wooden bulkheads around the 
city and its environs : 

“ The bulkheads deviate from original line principally from faulty 
construction; too rapid filling in of earth from shore end; sinking of 
cribs not properly balanced with stone; material consisting of short 
timber not properly bolted, and settlement of cribs to hard pan— 
after stone has been inserted. 

“ Piles have been driven through and outside of crib to prevent 
sagging outwards with success. Unskilled labor employed and 
inferior timber used.” 

The Hudson River Railroad Company on their work at Sixty- 
fifth street, North river, constructed during the summer a “tram¬ 
way” on piles on a 2° curve, across the westerly end of “bayou,” 
between Sixty-fourth and Sixty-third streets, North river. Previous 
to the construction of this “ tramway ” a great deal of dredged mate¬ 
rial, amounting to between fifty and sixty thousand cubic yards had 
been taken from the new bulkhead line, and deposited in the easterly 
end of the “ bayou.” The piles which formed the substructure of 
the “ tramway,” had been driven down to rock, having but little 
holding mud, but deemed by the engineer in charge sufficiently 
stable to serve all the purposes for which the tramway was intended. 

* Immediately after making earth. 

t A block 700 feet long deviated from original line to such a degree that piles had to be 
driven in front. 

$ Company are driving piles in rear. 












































49 


The earlier part of this month the mud deposited in the rear slid 
with such a force as to carry away piles, lumber track, and a plat¬ 
form erected in the rear, making a total wreck of everything; the 
m mu d that had caused the disaster reappearing some fifty yards to the 
west of where the tramway stood, and showing about 2 feet above 
mean low water. 

In May last I instructed Mr. Staats, Surveyor, to ascertain the 
position of the bulkhead placed by the Hudson River Railroad 
Company, opposite to their grounds on the Hudson river at the foot 
of Sixtieth street, with reference to the established bulkhead line of 
the Department, and he reported to me as follows: 

“ I find that the bulkhead just north of the northerly line of Sixtieth 
street, is now four feet seven inches west of the west bulkhead line; 
and at a point opposite the centre line of Sixty-first street, it is about 
fourteen feet west of department line. This difference is due to 
the manner in which the crib-work has been forced out or bulged, 
the versed sine at point of greatest curvature being nearly eleven 
feet.” 

The crib placed on the bulkhead line by the Hudson River Rail¬ 
road Company is composed of dock logs, filled in with rubble, and 
at its base is forty-five feet wide; to mean low water it is forty-two 
feet six inches high ; from this point to the level of the coping, twelve 
feet six inches, it is composed of square timber. The whole height 
from its base being fifty feet; the width at top thirty feet. 

These facts establish conclusively that no structure, save and 
except a wall formed of either natural or artificial stone, properly 
founded on piles, has the capacity requisite to resist the lateral pres¬ 
sure to which it is subjected; and the wall already finished at Chris¬ 
topher street section having demonstrated that it possesses all the 
elements requisite for the solution of the problem, naught remains, 
except in future portions of the wall yet to be constructed, to reduce 
the mass of the material to the lowest practicable limit, to substitute 
“ beton en masse ” for manufactured blocks, and rubble facing with 
granite cope for the cut-granite facing heretofore used. 

After the trench for the wall on this section had been completed, 
and three hundred feet of the wall erected, at ebb tide, a very per¬ 
ceptible current was developed, where hitherto slack water had pre¬ 
vailed, thus proving that when the wall is continuously built, and the 
open system of piers substituted for the block and bridge piers now ex¬ 
isting, sufficient current will be created to sweep all sewerage matter 
toward the sea. This process will be rendered still more certain, how¬ 
ever, if the sewer outlets are carried to the end of the piers, as is the 
ultimate intention when the Department of Works completes the new 
sewers rendered necessary by the widening of the river street. In 
anticipation of this last mentioned improvement, the Department of 
Docks should adopt some process for the thorough preservation of 

4 


50 


the new timber piers, as simultaneously with the restoration of clear 
limpid water the teredo navalis will reappear. 

The creation of this current is likewise an assurance that the 
widening of West street, from a varying width of from seventy to one . ^ 
hundred feet, to a uniform width of two hundred and fifty feet, 
bounded as it will be by an unbroken masonry bulkhead line, 
with open-pile piers projecting therefrom, will increase rather than 
decrease the cross section of the Hudson, as was feared by many 
advocates of the improvement when it was first suggested. 

All the beton blocks used at this section were manufactured 
at the Gansevoort street yard, under the supervision of Gen¬ 
eral Schuyler Hamilton, who likewise tested all the cement of 
which they were composed. The cement was the English Portland, 
of the brands of White Bros., and Knight, Bevans, and Sturge. The 
blocks were made on platforms in moulds, and generally remained at 
the yard for some months after they were completed, but in some few 
instances, when the work was being hurried, were transported to the 
points required and placed in position within ten days after they 
were finished. 


Canal Street and Other Sections. 

Since this report was written the Canal street section has been 
extended about two hundred feet, the short section at the foot of 
King street completed, and a new section commenced at the foot of 
Clarkson street. The plan of construction being in every case pre¬ 
cisely similar, except on the Clarkson street section, where it has 
been deemed advisable, in consequence of the great depth and soft¬ 
ness of the mud, to drive the two front rows of piles with a batir of 
one and three-fourth inches, instead of perpendicularly as on the 
other sections ; the object of the change being to oppose still greater 
resistance on the part of the foundation to lateral pressure, and to 
enable the mould-boards to be slid down further, so that the concrete 
may bind the pile-heads to a greater depth. 

On all these sections the cut-granite facing is adhered to, a large 
quantity of dressed granite being on hand in the Seventeenth street 
yard. It is probable, however, that when this stock is exhausted on 
sections yet to be constructed, the facing will be composed of rubble 
blocks made in the Department yards, and transferred by scows to 
the desired points and set by the ten-ton derrick. 

On the King street section the concrete was mixed on board of 
scows and placed within the caisson by means of the ten-ton derrick, 
the bucket used having a capacity of two cubic yards. 


5i 


The advantages of the beton en masse system are: 

First .—As many sections as the Department deem advisable can 
be in course of construction at any one time, the distance between 
the old piers enabling the work to be prosecuted in the slips without 
any serious hindrance to commerce. 

Second .—The work by the adoption of the heating process as 
applied to water, sand, and stone, may be prosecuted, at least, during 
nine months out of the twelve. 

Third .—Unskilled labor can replace to a very great extent the 
skilled labor required under the block system. 

Fourth .—The huge and expensive one-hundred-ton derrick can 
be dispensed with, and small scow derricks employed for lowering the 
concrete, and the ten-ton derrick for placing the granite masonry, and 
eventually the manufactured rubble blocks. 

Fifth .—After the various sections of the wall in the slips are 
sufficiently advanced, by means of temporary approaches they can 
be connected with the old piers, thus allowing these old piers to be 
cut away on the line of the wall for the purpose of joining the 
adjacent sections. The outer ends of the old piers can be used as 
long as desirable. 

Sixth .—The new piers being differently spaced from the old, these 
new piers may be projected from the new bulkhead wall and com¬ 
pleted in a great many instances, before it becomes necessary to 
remove the old ones. 

Seventh .—The rapidity with which the work may be prosecuted, 
and the immense saving in its cost. 







. 






















































